A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that an Alameda County Superior Court judge had shown no bias against Ford Motor Co. when he ordered a huge recall because of a faulty ignition part.

Judge Michael Ballachey should not be disqualified from a class-action lawsuit trial, the ruling found.

The automaker had charged that Ballachey should be removed from the case because bias clouded his decision on Oct. 11 to order the recall of an estimated 2 million Ford automobiles in California. Ford also had argued that Ballachey should not be allowed to preside over the retrial of the jury phase of the case, which ended earlier in a hung jury.

However, in a two-page written decision issued yesterday, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James T. Ford ruled that Ballachey did not "refuse to consider or admit evidence proffered by (Ford Motor Co.) . . . . Rather, he has expressed the view that the evidence proffered by Ford was in certain respects not credible. This is one of his duties as the trial judge."

Ford, who has no relation to the automaker, also wrote that the automaker's arguments and conclusions hung "upon too slender a reed."

The ruling was another blow to the automaker, which has been embroiled in the recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires used on its Explorer sport utility vehicles.

Jeff Fazio, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, said yesterday he was not surprised by the ruling. "From our point of view, (Ford's allegations) were ludicrous," he said.

Calls to Ford and the company's attorneys were not returned yesterday.

The case involves a part called the thick film ignition, or TFI module. The judge agreed with plaintiffs' attorneys, who argued that the automaker knew that the distributor-mounted unit would fail from excessive heat from the engine, causing the automobile to stall.

Ford has pledged to appeal the TFI case, saying that its automobiles are safe and that a Superior Court judge does not have the authority to order recalls. Such power rests solely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford argues.

Ballachey ordered the two sides to meet with a referee to work out the details of the TFI recall and return to court with a recommendation. The hearing is set for the week of Feb. 26. The retrial is expected to start in early summer, with the jury considering punitive damages that the plaintiffs claim Ford owes them, Fazio said.